Many vehicles are designed to transport freight, goods, merchandise, personal property, and other such cargo. Often, a hitch assembly is utilized to connect a towed vehicle or trailer to a towing vehicle, such as a truck for example, to increase the capacity to transport goods. Many types of coupling devices have been developed for providing this connection between a towing vehicle and a towed vehicle. Such connections may often include a shaft-mounted, ball-type hitch member, that may be conventionally referred to as a tow or hitch ball. The hitch ball is generally attached to the towing vehicle, often in the flatbed of a truck, to permit connection to a trailer coupler. The trailer typically has a frame that extends outward so that the trailer may be attached to the towing vehicle. A trailer tongue is a portion of the frame that may extend beyond the trailer body.
Typically, the coupler may be attached to the tongue of the towed vehicle that may cooperate with the hitch ball to complete the connection from the towed vehicle to towing vehicle. The trailer coupler often has a socket portion that is sized and shaped to receive the hitch ball. The hitch ball of the towing vehicle may be removably secured to the trailer coupler to permit the towing vehicle to transport the towed vehicle, such as a trailer and its contents, boats, other vehicles, ATVs, furniture and other objects. The coupler thereby allows for the trailer to pivot behind the towing vehicle. The socket to hitch ball connection allows relative movement between the towing vehicle and the trailer as the towing vehicle makes turns, traverses uneven or rough terrain, and passes along inclining and declining roadways.
There are many different types of trailer hitches. Some of the most common types of hitches include gooseneck, fifth wheel, front mount, and others. The gooseneck hitch may use a long, extended arm having a coupler attached to the lower end thereof. The gooseneck coupler mounted to the trailer may connects to the hitch ball installed in the bed of the towing vehicle. This system of coupling the trailer to the towing vehicle permits the towing vehicle to turn at sharper angles than are permitted by a typical bumper hitch system. Often these gooseneck couplers connect oversized trailers to towing vehicles having shortened truck beds. Such a connection configuration often leads to operational difficulties.
Many trailers are generally much larger and heavier than typical trailers and often require relatively heavy towing vehicles such as heavy-duty pickup trucks to pull them. Gooseneck trailer hitches are considered to be heavy duty and are often used to fasten trailers weighing 10,000 pounds or more. Gooseneck hitches are made to accommodate things like horse trailers and other oddly shaped trailers whose weight is not evenly distributed. A gooseneck trailer hitch is often placed in the truck bed above the rear axle and the trailer is then secured to it. The gooseneck hitch is much stronger than a regular ball hitch and can haul much more weight.
Generally, a gooseneck coupler arm is mounted to the trailer at one end and has a socket at the other end that connects to the hitch ball installed in the bed of the towing vehicle. The gooseneck engages the hitch ball to pivotally engage the trailer to the towing vehicle. The trailer is thus able to pivot relative to the towing vehicle about a vertical axis through the hitch ball to facilitate cornering and parking. Normally, the hitch ball is mounted directly over or a short distance in front of the rear axle of the towing vehicle in order to maintain proper weight distribution. Thus, when the gooseneck coupler engages the hitch ball, a portion of the trailer's weight may be carried directly over the rear axle of the towing vehicle. So as to permit the turning of the towing vehicle and relative pivoting between the towing vehicle and the trailer, there must be significant clearance between the pivot point and the rear of the towing vehicle cab in order to prevent contact between the trailer and the cab.
Recently, there has been a trend towards extending pickup truck cabs. These trucks have greatly expanded interior cargo volume and also have specially designed rear jump seats for accommodating additional passengers. Unfortunately, most of these extended cab pickups are built on a standard wheelbase chassis because consumers prefer the driving characteristics of a shorter truck, and accordingly, the beds of these trucks are typically six feet long rather than eight feet long. Although these shorter bed pickups have the towing capacity to handle a heavy trailer, they do not have enough clearance between the axle and the rear of the cab to allow the trailer to pivot to a 90 degree angle without contacting the cab, which could damage the truck or towing vehicle and severely injure any occupants. In most circumstances, a trailer will contact the cab of a short bed pickup at angles much less than 90 degrees.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved coupler assembly that may offset the pivot connection between the hitch ball and the trailer, such as by moving the pivot connection rearwardly. Further, so that only one pivot connection is provided, the rotational movement of the gooseneck coupler relative to the hitch ball should be prevented. Therefore, moving the pivot position rearwardly of the coupler assembly's attachment point may enable a trailer to easily handle up to a 90 degree turn.